Chapter 299
Chapter 299
You're looking at me with those eyes again." At that moment, Arthur was the first to break the silence. After hearing what came next, Krash's brow furrowed slightly. Because the "you" he referred to wasn't the current Krash. It was another version of himself from one of the countless timelines linked to Arthur. Arthur was comparing his present self to the one in his memories. "My eyes are naturally sharp, so people misunderstand me all the time." "You know that's not what I mean." Krash let out a long sigh. He was sick of dancing around the subject. His patience wasn't endless. So Krash decided to cut straight to the chase. "Arthur, Abella granted you time magic." Krash saw no further reason to hide the fact of his own regression. By this point, anyone who knew about the previous world would have already guessed that Krash had regressed. Krash had grown strong enough to face most dangers head-on. It was time for him to confront risks directly. "Correct." Arthur seemed to conclude that sharing information openly would benefit him more than holding back, a smile curling at his lips. "Then it's confirmed—you're not the Arthur I knew." For the first time in front of Arthur, Krash openly admitted his regression. At the same time, he acknowledged stealing Arthur's. Arthur pressed the back of his hand to his mouth upon hearing Krash's words. It was a habit he often displayed when stifling a laugh. Gazing directly at Krash from behind his hand, Arthur asked, "So, when you stole my regression, what was I like at the very end?" "Annoying right to the finish." "Annoying, was I." Somehow, Arthur grinned widely at the words. "That tracks. The version of me you faced must have been in total despair, having abandoned everything." Arthur had lost his regression to Krash. He knew better than anyone what that signified. "It means I wanted to discard my regression so desperately that I ignored every condition of your Black Hood." At those words, Krash picked up on one key fact. "...
In one of the timelines you witnessed, did I ever try to steal your regression?" On the day Krash had raised his hand toward the regressing Arthur and activated Black Hood. Even knowing about Krash's Black Hood, Arthur hadn't taken any countermeasures—he'd simply watched. If he'd wanted, he could have torn Krash to shreds mid-cast. But he hadn't, and Black Hood had claimed his regression in the end. Perhaps, subconsciously, he'd believed it couldn't be stolen. "That's correct too." Arthur rang the golden bell for Krash's insight. "Krash, you did try to steal my regression. In a world that no longer exists, you attempted it... and failed." Soon, Krash noticed a deep-seated hatred flickering in Arthur's eyes. Crack— That hatred soon erupted as a surge of Arthur's power. The killing intent pouring from him cracked the windowpanes. The depth of hatred embedded in Arthur exceeded all imagination. Even taking it head-on, Krash felt puzzled. It was the first time he'd ever seen Arthur loathe someone this intensely. "You—the only one I ever told about my regression—tried to steal it from me." Krash froze at those words. "...
What?" "You wouldn't understand now." Arthur regarded Krash with eyes full of pity. "Did you know? A person's true nature can be far dirtier than they realize." Krash sensed that, in Arthur's gaze, he appeared as a more monstrous figure than he'd ever imagined. But more than that, Arthur's earlier statement echoed relentlessly in his mind. '...
The only one I told about regression was me?' It must have been one of Arthur's countless timelines.'Telling me about regression...' That would mean Arthur had trusted Krash. 'Trying to steal it...' Meant Krash had betrayed him. Krash recalled the way Arthur always looked at him. Arthur's gaze toward Krash never held even a sliver of trust. Krash had always puzzled over that look. He directed it at others occasionally, but it was far sharper toward Krash. Later, he'd chalked it up to Arthur half-cursing him or something. But perhaps Arthur had already been betrayed by him once before. The current Krash could declare it confidently. The him now wouldn't steal Arthur's regression, even knowing of it. After all, Krash had already undergone regression himself. But what about Krash before regressing? Krash couldn't swear otherwise. He too had desperately longed to turn back time countless occasions in his past life. "...
When." So Krash asked. When exactly had he betrayed Arthur. "When?" "When I tried to take your regression—what had happened to me by then?" Arthur let out a slow chuckle. "How would I know? You died by my hand." The dead don't speak. That was Arthur's point to Krash. "Simply put, Krash—you needed regression, and you betrayed me. That's the whole story." Krash grasped the meaning behind the hatred and betrayal in Arthur's eyes. And why Arthur had never once shown him trust. '...
Now I finally get why you never brought me along to the end.' Someone who'd betrayed him once—could Krash be trusted not to do it again? Krash now understood why Arthur had kept the truth of regression from him alone. Why was that? Realizing it brought a strange peace to one corner of his heart. Because he finally comprehended every reason Arthur had been forced to act that way. So Krash posed one final question that had nagged at him. "Then why tell those three about regression—and bring them along?" Sigrin Epania, Abella, Mary Diana. These three certainly possessed talents worthy of the genius label. But at their core, their personalities were warped. They were walking variables, unpredictable in every direction. Just look at them now for proof. Mary, abandoned by her nation, had crumbled completely into a fool who worshipped Krash alone. Sigrin refused to accept her flaws, lost her mind, and fled to the empire in the end. Abella was sowing chaos everywhere, hell-bent on creating the god of World Erosion to reclaim Arthur. What reason could Arthur have had to regress alongside these three? Arthur's eyes still held that amused glint as he heard the question. "You really don't know a thing. So like you—always fixating on one narrow view." "Did those three hold that much value?" "The opposite." Arthur brushed back his golden hair languidly, as if there were no need to conceal it. "Those three were one of the primary causes of the world's destruction." "Huh?" Krash's eyes widened slowly. The conversation had veered into utterly unforeseen territory. "Mary was the textbook case of what happens when a fool wields military might and authority. Prizing idleness and status above all, she rose to command the foremost, fiercest frontline. Her individual prowess was undeniably elite—strong enough to hold the Fiercest at bay single-handedly. But as a commander? She was catastrophic. Her botched orders annihilated 90% of that frontline." And with that, Arthur laid out the harsh reality for Krash. "Sigrin was the empire's destroyer. The moment the first prince claimed the throne, she slaughtered him, the second prince—even her own little sister—for the crown. Awakened to bloodshed, she razed the empire. Even after its fall, she styled herself emperor, devolving into a marauder who butchered countless souls." Arthur sifted through the implanted memories and let out a chilling laugh. "Abella sold out the world for magic. Her magical talent knew no bounds, and it didn't take long for that gift to become a global threat. Magic Emperor Terathius excised needless emotions and memories in pursuit of research, yet clung to his humanity until the end. Abella? She carved away even that for her spells. She pressed on relentlessly, piercing magic's limits. To prove its ultimate truth, she offered up the entire world as sacrifice." The apocalypse wrought by those three. Arthur had burned it indelibly into his own eyes. "But there was one exception—one instance where it never came to pass." Krash grasped the implication woven into Arthur's words. "When those three found lovers." That was why Arthur had regressed with them. To uproot yet another seed of annihilation.